The Diplomat
With the support of the Ateneo de Madrid, the Department of Romanian Language and Culture ILR – Complutense University and also Timisoara 2023, the celebrations on the occasion of the Romanian Culture Day organised by the Instituto Rumano de Cultura and the Romanian Embassy continued last Tuesday at the headquarters of the Madrid cultural centre.
To begin the event, which was attended by a large number of the Romanian community in Madrid, Valeriu Radulian, Head of Communication at the Romanian Embassy, delivered the message of the Romanian Ambassador, George Bologan, who made a brief review of the cultural relations between the two countries, naming personalities from the university and academic sphere who have contributed decisively to intensify the links at that level. The Romanian ambassador’s message ended with a call for unity: “In a world dominated by conflicts, the only right attitude is to remain united and to continue to cooperate within the European project. At the same time, it is important to preserve our identity as a people and that is why such cultural events are very important”.
Ovidiu Megan, President of the Timisoara European Capital of Culture -2023 Programme, presented the outlines of the Timisoara 2023 programme, and then evoked the artistic personality of the national poet Mihai Eminescu from a multidisciplinary perspective.
The event was a perfect occasion to express admiration, respect and recognition for Romania’s creators and thinkers. The Ramón y Cajal hall of the Ateneo proved to be too small for the large audience that attended a comprehensive presentation of the cultural programme Timișoara 2023, and an impressive literary marathon. Numerous Romanian literature lovers recited, with great emotion, in Romanian, Spanish or both languages, poems by Mihai Eminescu, Lucian Blaga, Tudor Arghezi, Nichita Stănescu, George Bacovia, Ana Blandiana, as well as other Romanian poets, translated into Spanish by Dana Giurcă, José Manuel Lucía Megías and Corina Oproae. Distinguished guests and authorities from the Spanish government, teachers, students, Spanish and Romanian poets, journalists and colleagues from the EUNIC Spain network took the stage of the Ateneo de Madrid, one by one, in a sublime cultural event.
